INGLEWOOD, Calif. − Representatives with Oak Tree and Santa Anita made presentations to the board of directors of the Thoroughbred Owners of California on Thursday, seeking the organization’s support to host six weeks of racing in Southern California in the fall of 2011.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Blame and Paddy O’Prado – the favorites for Saturday’s Jockey Club Gold Cup and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, respectively – arrived at Belmont Park about 1:30 p.m. Friday, a day after their scheduled flight from Kentucky was canceled due to inclement weather.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Maturity, sobriety, and stability are some of the contributing factors in Richard Hamel being on the verge of becoming the leading rider at Hastings for the first time in his career. Going into the final five days of racing at Hastings, Hamel is a cinch to win the title with 78 wins, seven more than Fernando Perez, who isn’t active. Pedro Alvarado is a distant third with 61 wins.

MIAMI − Bullstar and Stepaside are on the also-eligible list and might not even compete in Sunday’s ninth race at Calder. But their presence in the prospective lineup is significant, since they are the first of the Frank Calabrese-owned and Nick Canani-trained horses to hit the local entries this fall.

Canani finished second in the standings at the recently concluded Arlington Park session, winning races at nearly a 40 percent clip for Calabrese. The pair had similar success at Gulfstream Park last winter, when Canani won with 35 percent of his starters at the 2010 meet.

The top four riders at the recently ended Arlington Park meet will be among an extremely deep jockey colony at the Keeneland fall meet, which will start with the usual frenzy of activity with the three-day FallStars Weekend Oct. 8-10.

ELMONT, N.Y. − Although three of Regal Ransom’s four victories have come in 1 1/8-mile races run around two turns, his connections feel he could be just as effective in one-mile races run around one turn.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Jenny’s So Great looks like the class of Sunday’s $150,000 Carotene, and Silent Wisper looks like the speed.

The Carotene, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for Ontario-foaled 3-year-old fillies, attracted a field of seven that also includes the Ontario-sired archrivals Dancing Raven and Jacally.

Jenny’s So Great, trained by Greg DeGannes, has raised her game to a new level on the turf here this summer, winning the one-mile prep for the open Ontario Colleen and finishing second in the stakes itself over the same distance and surface.

ELMONT, N.Y. – By the end of the meet, the Saratoga turf courses had become so speed-favoring that it may have skewed some of the results.

Horses like Soldat, who won the Grade 3 With Anticipation laying close to the pace, may have benefited from the way the course was playing, while a horse like Winter Memories may have had that much more to overcome when she rallied from well off the pace to win a maiden 2-year-old filly race.

Despite the 5.1 inches of rain that fell at Laurel Park this week, racing officials have determined that Laurel Park's turf course can be used for the three grass races scheduled on Saturday's Jim McKay Maryland Million card.

The $100,000 Turf Sprint (race 5), the $100,000 Turf (race 7), and the $100,000 Ladies (race 9) will remain on the grass.

Trainer Pam McDougall has a solid one-two punch with Honey’n Roses and Among the Willows in Sunday’s feature at Northlands Park. The one-mile conditional allowance race for 3-year-old fillies drew seven horses and will go as race 5.

Honey’n Roses would likely be favored on her own merits and being coupled with Among the Willows guarantees a short price for the McDougall pair.